Acts 7:1-17

Acts 7:1–53 KJV 1900

Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

I want to encourage us today through Stephens speech

I want to take notice of a few different things in which he has shared through it and how we can defend our salvation truth just as Stephen did

First Stephen used OT truths to display Gods glory and grace.

Stephen used Old Testament figures such as Abraham and Joseph

He displayed to those judging him Gods grace through truths in which they were already familiar with

This is significant for us today because we need to remember we have words of truth in this word.

They can adequately be used to show the significance of Gods grace.

He reveals to them their own stubbornness and inability to listen to the Holy Spirit

in verse 52

Acts 7:52 KJV 1900

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Some of Stephens final words is telling those judging him that they have betrayed the children of God in the past

Stephen faithfully shared with them that their is a past issue

Through these avenues Stephen reveals that the truth is that they love the ground in which is being worshipped on more than the one who is being worshipped

Stephen mentions in verses 33 and 38 this

Acts 7:33 KJV 1900

Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

Acts 7:38 KJV 1900

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

In the first account we see them using the phrase Holy ground

When we look at what Stephen was trying to say we see that he was saying that the ground was Holy because of the presence of God not the other way around

This was something difficult to understand for those persecuting him

in verse 38 we see God speaking to Moses at Mt Sina as an example in Stephens speech

He used this for an example because once again God was working in and through a person not a place

So ultimatley Stephen revealed three truths in his speech

That their was a history of flaws, This history was present due to a lack of listening to God and the Holy Spirit and lastly They failed to worship the true God because they instead worshipped the law and temples

Church I wanted to share Stephens speech with you in this manner because I wanted us to see the significance of the speech as a whole.

What was so important about what Stephen was doing

What is so important here is that Stephen was about to be stoned

What did he do?

Did he try to make himself look better so judgement wouldn’t come?

No

Did he pretend he didn’t know what they were talking about?

once again, no

Stephen in such a scary and unknown situation simply made a defense for the gospel

What is the significance in all of this?

I want to place before us a hypothetical thought

A man named Saul was present

We all know who that is

He is the one who we would one day call Paul and who would publish over half of the new testament

As Stephen lay in agony after delivering this defense of the gospel

a man named saul stood in approval as the witnesses laid their clothes at his feet

I find it interesting that our author Luke mentions Saul's presence

Yet here is my hypothetical thought

What if Stephens speech was what sparked conviction in young Saul’s heart

What if hearing this argument for the gospel and seeing Stephen stoned after the fact was just the sight that Saul needed

we can never say for sure

Yet I will say Luke mentions Saul for a reason and I would like to believe it is because this speech is what sparked conviction on a man that would essentially lead the era of The New Testament church

What if on that day on the road to Damascus the heart wrenching thought that Saul went back to was that of dear Stephen as he deliver a argument for the gospel and then become one of the most well known christian martyrs

I make this argument to you today for this

We always say “our life is the only word some people hear”

What if your defense of the gospel in a group or to an individual may be just what we see here

What if your argument of the truth sparks the next Paul

My conviction for you today is simple

let us not hold back from sharing the word

Whatever the setting let us make a bold and failthful truth